A press release is a piece of writing targeted at and distributed to members of the media. It is meant to entice reporters into coming to an event or covering an event in a certain light. There’s never a guarantee that members of the media will talk about events in the way you want them to—or at all—but getting your press release into the right hands is a good start. In order to get your press releases into the hands of reporters who matter in your field, you need to know how to write a compelling press release, use smart distribution channels and reach out to influential publications and reporters.

Steps

Method1

Creating a Distribution Plan

1

Use links effectively. One of the easiest ways to give your press release the largest possible audience is by linking to several outside sources in the text of your release, like this: Add a Link to WordPress. It takes practically no time to do and it helps you in several ways. For example:[1]

It gives you credibility with the audience in general. If you link to the websites of opinion leaders in your industry, you associate yourself with them in the minds of your audience.

It enhances your SEO , or search engine optimization. The presence of links to a website and from a website lets Google and other search engines know how reputable your website is and how high it should show up in the results of web searches.

2

Send your press releases out a few minutes past the hour. People like to think in round numbers, and writers of press releases and reporters are no exception. Practically, it means almost everyone sends out their press releases on the hour. With everyone sending out press releases at the same time, they all tend to get lost in the crowd.[2]

To avoid this effect, send out your releases eight or nine minutes past the hour, when the rush has died down.

3

Send your press release to the right publications. Some companies are so large virtually any press release they send out will be covered in some way, but most businesses are lucky to get much press coverage at all. In order to maximize the chances of your press release turning into actual news coverage, you need to make sure you’re sending it to the kinds of publications that will think it is newsworthy. [3]

Most small businesses aren’t able to send their press releases directly to CNN and get coverage from it. A better strategy is to research the influential blogs and magazines in your industry and target those. If you’re lucky, larger news sources pick up the story, but if everything plays out as expected, you’ve still got your press release into the hands of the publications that matter to your industry.

For example, if you run a firm specializing in 3-D printing and you're rolling out a new innovation, don't waste your time sending your press releases to USA Today, CNN, and the New York Times. Instead, send them to web magazines like 3Ders.org and 3DPrint.com, which specialize in 3D printing related news.If you do reach for a national audience, send the press release off to Popular Mechanics or Science instead.

4

Leverage technology. Distributing press releases effectively is multi-step process, and a great deal of it involves correspondence. You’ll want to keep track of friendly reporters, which press releases generate the best press in the right publications, and much more. This can be time consuming, and if you want to both distribute press releases effectively and do other things with your time, an email-marketing service would be an excellent way to do both.[4]

One of the most widely used email marketing services is Mailchimp, and you can actually use it for free if you have less than 2000 subscribers and send less than 12,000 emails per month. You can build an email list, see who’s opening your emails, and even how your number compare with other similarly situated companies.

5

Consider using a distribution service. There are a number of press release distribution services, and level of service they offer varies considerably. While some are barely more than glorified bulletin boards, others are extremely sophisticated, offering writing services, tracking, media contacts and targets, and much more.[5]

Generally, you’ll get what you pay for, and many commentators question the wisdom of using a paid service at all if your business is small. Nonetheless, you should be aware that distribution services are out there. Some are helpful, some are free, but rarely are they both.

Method2

Laying the Foundations for Success

1

Use targeted, personal appeals. Instead of sending out mass email blasts to hundreds and thousands of reporters and publications, cultivate 10-100 reporters who cover the beats relating to your industry. [6]

Try to speak to each reporter personally. Reference or comment upon articles they wrote about similar subjects before you inundate them with press releases. For example, send off a short email like this: "I saw your article about the bio-applications of 3-D printing, and I thought it was great. I'm in the industry, and you were right on the specifics. There's some stuff that's even more exciting in the pipeline. I'll keep you posted."

While you’re finding reporters who can be of value to you, figure out how you can be of value to them as well. Self-interest is just as powerful a motivator for a reporter as it is for you, after all.

2

Give your core publications a competitive advantage. When you’ve identified the publications and reporters who are of the most use to you, find ways to nature those relationships. Among the easiest is to give them access to the press releases before anyone else—a head start.[7]

This is a technique known as “embargoing” a story. If you aren’t familiar with journalistic practices, it might seem unfair, but it’s widely accepted.

3

Suggest placement ideas. When it comes to work, easier is almost always better. This applies to a well-known outlet and a new one equally, and it will make any reporter’s job a little easier if you give them an idea or two on how the story could be placed or an angle from which to write it.[8]

Make doubly sure to do this when you’re trying to grow your media foot print. If you’re reaching out to a new media outlet, make their job easy—tell them how you think your press release fits into their publication.

4

Follow up. If you want to create effective press releases in the future, you need to know whether the one’s you’re writing today are effective. The easiest way to do that is by following up. If a press release you write becomes the germ of a reporter’s story, contact them a week or two after it ran and see how the story did. See if there were any particular aspects of the story that played well, so you can tailor future press releases to those concerns.[9]

Following up is also a tried and true method for helping keep your professional relationships with reporters alive. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. For instance, "I saw your piece last week, and I thought it was great. I noticed you got a chance to use a few things from our press release in it. You getting any feedback that sticks out?"

Method3

Crafting a Compelling Press Release

1

Remember that your press release tells a story. One of the typical shortcomings of new press-release-writers is stylistic—they tend to write a press release as if it was a memo. That is, they tend to write a dry, matter-of-fact document more suited to office consumption than public consumption. This is a mistake. A press release should be written like a hybrid of an advertisement and a news story; it should be pithy, catchy, and informative. [10]

The best case scenario for your press release is this: the reporter who reads it thinks it’s a newsworthy topic, runs out of time to write a story about it, and puts their name on what you wrote, giving you complete control over the message. If what you’ve written is good enough, there’s a (very slim) chance that could happen. If you write something dry and filled with jargon, it never will.

2

Integrate multimedia. The eye is drawn to a picture to a greater degree than it is to text, and as a consequence, visual aids work in press releases just as well as they do in any other type of written media. Tastefully integrated photographs, images, and videos are all great ways to get more eyes that matter reading what you want them to read.[11]

The effect of adding images and video is considerable—18% and 55% greater views on average, respectively.

3

Explain to the audience what’s in it for them. Understand that even if you advertise, your press release might be the way a lot of viewers learn about your good or service, whether the reader is a member of the press or a member of the public. As a consequence, you need to explain to the reader what they stand to gain by diverting their attention from whatever else is vying for it, and reading your press release. [12]

After every press release, your reader should be able to easily explain what is new, why it is unusual, and why they should care. Tweak it until you’ve satisfied those conditions.